Chapter 26

Aaron paced restlessly. His husband had been missing for nine months. After the required two days, Aaron had filed a missing persons report with the local police department. The last time Aaron had called to check on the progress he had been informed that the police had better things to do than find a “queer”.  

             “Aaron, would you please stop pacing? The children need to sleep.”Onyx asked coming up behind him.

Aaron turned to look at him. “I’m sorry, I’m just angry at that policeman.”

Onyx shrugged. “They don’t care about those who are different or go against societal norms. That’s the way it’s always been. You not only sleep with men, you sleep with other colors. That’s two strikes against you. They won’t help. They can’t help. Not against this.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Against what? What do you know?”

“I know a great many things.”

“About Ice’s disappearance. Something I don’t know.”

Onyx closed his eyes and turned away. “I can’t tell you.”

“Can’t tell me what? What can’t you tell me? Dammit, answer me.”

“I promised I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Who asked you not to tell me?”

“Ice,” Onyx whispered, “Ice made me promise not to tell you about certain…things. Things about him that he didn’t want you to know.” 

             Aaron took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. “You think these things he was hiding from me might be relevant to his disappearance?”

Onyx nodded and sat beside Aaron. “Yes, it’s a possibility.”

“Why didn’t you tell the police?”

“For many of the same reasons that I couldn’t tell you. It wasn’t my secret to tell. Also there are others who would not like it if I revealed this information to outsiders.”

“Others.”

“Yes.”

“And you think these others might be involved?”

Onyx shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. I just know they exist. I don’t know much more about them except that Snow was-” he paused searching for the right word, “wary of them. They were enemies or rivals of hers. And Ice belonged to her.”

“Is there any way to contact them?”

“No, at least none that I know of. I’m not one of them.”

              Aaron sat back and digested that information. He couldn’t believe that Ice had been hiding things from him. Things that he apparently had told Onyx. Aaron wondered if Ice’s antipathy towards Onyx was genuine or merely a cover for an affair that was being conducted right under Aaron’s nose.

Aaron got up and walked into the twins’ bedroom and stared for a long time at the daughters he shared with Ice.